So, I got some good feedback from my Prep for your interview post. So, I’ve decided to cover some more topics in this realm. Hopefully, it will help a person or two. I won’t be giving away the secret code to land any job, but I may have a hint or two.
Let me first say, that I typically try and stay away from asking questions that need to be memorized. i.e. “What does the {insert_method_here} do in the {insert_random_library_here}?” Though, some interviewers like to ask them, so you better prepare just in case.
I like to think of a class as a blueprint of something. The object is the end result you get from the blueprint.
Think of an interface as a contract. It will only describe what the implementing classes should look like. That being said, there are only signatures in an interface and an interface cannot do anything.
Now as for the abstract class, it actually is a class. It can define some methods to group similar class actions. For example, you can have a Dog abstract class with walk(), bark(), eat() as abstract methods. Then, specific dog types can extend this Dog abstract class and add their own individual methods that are specific to each class. So for example, maybe you can extend the class to be YourDog. Your dog is smart, it can rollOver(), sit(), stay() as well as the walk(), bark(), eat() actions. Silly example, but you hopefully get the point!
An array is a contiguous block of data that can be accessed via indices. A hashtable is a data structure that maps keys to values. It would be good to note that a hashtable is implemented with a hashing function to translate the keys into indices of a backing array to store the values.
If you thought coding while someone is watching you was weird, you may feel that similar distaste for paired programming on a phone screen. It’s awkward. You have to try and find a solution to a problem while keeping the awkward silences to a minimum. That basically means, talking through how you are going to approach the problem. If you are anything like me, that means you’ll end up saying something completely nonsensical numerous times. To try and keep those to a minimum, try talking a little slower.
I love giving FizzBuzz to folks. It should be relatively easy for you to get through this problem within a couple of minutes. Practicing coding problems is the way to go as they’ll help you to be able to identify how to approach other problems.
Obviously, there is a lot of topics to cover. Interviewers all have their own style of interviewing. Prepare for the worst is always a safe bet and hopefully all will go fine!